


Stealing Lou

by flufshepherd



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018), Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Flirting, Heist, Lou's Outfits, Love at First Sight, Pre-Canon, Pre-Heist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-20 23:21:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16147688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flufshepherd/pseuds/flufshepherd
Summary: They met on a heist, but not in the way you'd expect.





	Stealing Lou

**Author's Note:**

> First ever F/F fic, but after my second time watching this movie I couldn't _not_. Unbeta'ed, so typos may lurk. 
> 
> This is how I imagine Lou and Debbie met and fell in love: a whirlwind, like everything else about them.

"We've got a problem."  

"You mean you've got a problem," Debbie corrected, cradling the phone with her shoulder and applying a final coat of blue to her toenails.

This wasn't the first time they've had this conversation. Ever since she'd left his crew, Danny found a reason to call every other month, insisting he _absolutely needed_ Debbie to come back. ("We need a woman, Deb," "You're the only one who speaks German, Deb," "Rusty can't pull off sequins like you, Deb.")   

"They brought in a security consultant, Deb," this time. "Some hotshot from Melbourne. Remember when Tycho Reynolds took the Monte Carlo for 4.3 million last year?"

"I hadn't heard about that."

"Exactly. She's why."

Debbie whistled. "Tycho, huh? She must be good."

"She is good. Which is why we've got a problem."

"Your job, your problem. Just get Rusty to—"

"Cincinnati honey trap? Tried it. No go."

"Saul could—"

"The Grand Vizier. Thought of that. She made him in under ten."

Putting the cap back on her nail polish, Debbie leaned back into the pillows of her hotel bed and grabbed the room service menu. "Sounds like she's got you boys on the run."

"Come on, Deb." He turned on his smooth, shit-eating voice: the one that always worked on their parents and teachers but never worked on Debbie. "This lady might be a match for one Ocean, but two of us? She wouldn't stand a chance."

"Danny, you in here?" Rusty's voice in the background was muffled, but Debbie could swear she heard him eating. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd ever seen Rusty _not_ eating. "Who is that? You didn't call your— Danny, I told you I can handle this."

"It's nothing, Rusty. Delivery. Pepperoni good for you?" 

There was some rustling, a cut-off objection from her brother, and then Rusty's voice coming down the line. "How's it going, Deb?"

"Hey, Rusty. Danny says you guys are getting outsmarted by a girl. How's the ego holding up?" 

"It'll survive. You still running the buffalo nickel in Atlantic City?" 

"Only on weekends." She and Rusty had never really liked each other. He was perpetually suspicious that she'd try to re-claim her spot as Danny's right hand, and she never trusted anyone to watch her brother's six as well as she had. But, seeing as they both seemed to want what was best for Danny, they maintained a perpetually tense armistice.

"So is this security consultant the real deal, or does Danny just want another excuse to boss me around again?" 

There was a moment of silence before Rusty replied. "We're handling it," he said with unconvincing confidence. 

_Damn_ , Debbie thought. Either they actually _were_ up shit creek without a paddle, or they were getting better at playing her. Neither option thrilled her.

"Give me back to my brother," she sighed, putting the menu aside. She'd have to get something to eat on the way to New York. 

"You in?" Danny asked when he picked up the line. Like he didn't already know.

"Has it occurred to you that some matrimonial head masks just might be more trouble than they're worth?"

***

The room was half-lit and serenely quiet. Debbie had made sure to be the last person in the gallery as it was closing for the night. She stared into the eyes of the masks on display, still not completely sure how she was going to play this. 

Despite what others might think, Debbie often preferred to improvise her cons as she went. Sure, there was something to be said for a good, solid plan. She wouldn't be an Ocean, after all, if she couldn't mastermind an elaborate, well-orchestrated con, complete with twists and contingencies. But at moments like these, meeting with an unknown factor in a heist that wasn't  _really_ her own, she couldn't help indulge in the excitement of a bit of ad-libbing. 

She was idly contemplating the prospect of being a Hungarian heiress when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She didn't turn her head, focusing instead on the steady _click-clack_ of her mark approaching. Too heavy to be heels... boots, then. A rhythmic, unhurried pace, confident. Somehow elegant. 

The footsteps came to a stop next to Debbie, and she allowed herself to look. And once she had looked, it took everything in her not to  _stare_. 

Of course, when Danny had briefed her on Louise Miller, security consultant extraordinaire, there had been a photograph in the dossier: a simple, washed-out headshot of a woman almost as pale as the white wall behind her. 

It was impossible to reconcile that photograph with this creature standing with Debbie now. The cheekbones, which could cut through concrete. The eyes, which were colder than ice yet danced like fire. And the smirk that made Debbie want to kneel down and worship at her shrine for the rest of eternity. 

"Alluring, isn't it?" 

It took a moment, but Debbie realized she was talking about the mask in the display.  _Get it together_ , she told herself. This wasn't her first con. An Ocean doesn't lose her cool over a pretty face. 

"It's unique." 

Miller's smile, which somehow  _promised_ she knew everything Debbie was thinking and had ever thought, brightened quickly. She looked at Debbie for a few moments, like she was going to say something more poignant than what she eventually settled on: "We closed about fifteen minutes ago. The exhibit will still be here when we re-open tomorrow at 10." 

Debbie gave an innocent smile and followed when Miller led the way to the exit. As they moved into the light, Debbie took in her outfit: a fitted three-piece suit; dark gray pants, vest, and blazer with a bright red ascot. It had no right looking so good. 

"That's one hell of a uniform," she said as they reached the doors. "Are all the security guards here so fancy?"

Miller didn't respond, just held the door open for Debbie with that enigmatic smile that seemed to be permanently painted on her face. If she minded being mistaken for a guard, she didn't show it.

Debbie did always love to play with fire, and something told her that this woman had hell running through her veins. 

"What would you call that style, anyway? Warlock librarian?" 

But, again, nothing. Just a simple tilt of the head, a not-so-gentle reminder that the door was still open and the gallery was still closed. 

"Okay, okay, I'm going." 

She contemplated Miller for a few more seconds before making her mind up. She seemed too smart to fall for the Hungarian heiress, but Debbie was pretty sure she could pull a modified Mrs. Maisie. She'd have to get a dog and a suitcase before she came back tomorrow morning. 

"Good night," she said, stepping into the night, brain swirling with plans to make. 

"See you around, Debbie Ocean," Miller said, shutting the door and destroying those plans with a wink.

Through the thick glass that separated them, the two women surveyed each other with calculating, laughing eyes.  

Debbie made a decision, standing there in the warm orange of a New York City night, and it had nothing to do with Danny or his Incan masks. She would seduce Louise Miller. And then, she would _have_ Louise Miller. 

***

"She _made_ you?"

"Right away."

"And she—"

"Knew my name. Yep." 

"But you still?"

"Absolutely."

"All right then." 

***

"You have me at a disadvantage," Debbie said, finding Miller not too far from where she left her the night before. Today, she was wearing a conspicuous denim jacket and black leather pants, looking like she belonged anywhere that wasn't a midtown gallery. 

"I don't think I do." 

"Well, you seem to know everything about me, and I don't know the first thing about you, Ms. Miller." 

She regarded Debbie coolly for a moment before replying, "My friends call me Lou."

"Lou, then." 

Lou smiled. "I was just telling you a fact about myself," she said. "I hardly think we're going to be _friends_ , honey." And, with that, she started walking further into the gallery. 

"And why's that?" Debbie fell into step alongside Lou, who didn't seem to expect anything other than for Debbie to follow. 

"Well, for one, I'm fairly certain that you're trying to steal something from my employer. And I'm getting paid in buckets to keep you from doing exactly that." 

Debbie made a show of looking at the artwork and artifacts around the room. "Steal something? Why, is any of this valuable?" Lou narrowed her eyes and Debbie took a step closer. "All this stuff looks dusty and old. I'm far more interested in high-class and beautiful." 

"Beautiful will get you in trouble," Lou responded, stepping to the side. Debbie followed suit, and it almost felt like they were dancing, circling each other in the European Art room. 

"I've kinda got a thing for trouble," Debbie parried.

"I noticed," Lou laughed and turned, leading a path Debbie instantly recognized. Soon, they found themselves standing where they'd met last night, under the unsettling gaze of Danny's headmasks. 

"So, I've met Rusty Ryan, Saul Bloom, and now Debbie Ocean. Will your brother be next?"  

"No," Debbie said, and Lou looked genuinely surprised. 

"No?"

What Debbie didn't say was  _If you meet Danny, it means that I failed._

What Debbie also didn't say was  _If you meet Danny, you might like him more than you like me._

What Debbie also didn't say was _If you meet Danny, he'll somehow take you from me, like he takes everything, and you're the first thing I've ever wanted all to myself._

What Debbie did say was, "How did you know who I was? After a lifetime of staying anonymous to people like you, you knew me instantly. How?"

"People like me?" 

"Good guys." 

Lou just smiled and leaned in. "I guess I'm just very good at my job," she said. 

Debbie smiled back with a confidence she didn't feel. "Luckily," she replied, "so am I." And then she left the gallery before Lou could see through her. Before she could see, that for the first time in her life, Debbie Ocean was out of her depth. 

***

This time, it wasn't Danny, but Rusty who found her nursing a whiskey neat in the hotel bar. He leaned against the bar and dropped a bowl of salted nuts next to her.

"So you met her." He said it like she'd just returned from 'Nam with an arm missing.

"Yep."

"She's something, huh?"

Debbie glared at him, but Rusty didn't seem to mean anything by it. Just that Lou was something. And she was.

"Yep."

"What's your play gonna be?" 

Debbie said nothing, just raised the glass to her lips and stared straight ahead. 

"You do have a plan?" 

She caught the bartender's eye and shook her now-empty tumbler. He took it from her and filled it back up. 

"Deb. Danny's only going to be able to move the masks if we make the lift in the next three days." 

"I know."

"We can't pull this job with Nancy Drew lurking behind every corner." 

"I know." 

"We need you to have a plan."

"I  _know_. God, you're worse than my brother." She sighed and turned to face Rusty. "I don't know what to do. She knows who I am; she knows who we  _all_ are. She knows what we're after. It seems like she knows every trick in the book. Conning her would be like—" 

She cut herself off as a thought dawned on her. 

_One of us. Conning Lou would be like conning one of us._

"You can tell Danny he has nothing to worry about. The job is on." 

***

Finding Lou was easy. She was subletting a penthouse condo in Chelsea, and Debbie found her in the nearest dive bar, three blocks away. Like everyone else in the bar, she was dressed from head to toe in leather. Debbie half expected a fight or a porn shoot to break out at any moment. 

Lou was stretched against the bar, letting some beardy hipster try to chat her up. She seemed to sense Debbie instantly, meeting her eyes almost the second she walked in. Of course, more than a few eyes turned to Debbie the second she walked in. (As they should; Debbie had chosen to wear a deep,  _deep_ cut jumpsuit, skin-tight and revealing in all the best ways. She had also gone with a smokier eye than she'd been wearing for the past few days, a look that screamed  _I do bad things_. A look that begged others to do bad things, too.) 

She said nothing as she passed, simply reaching out and taking Lou by the hand, ignoring the sputtering "Hey!" from the hipster she'd been talking to. She dragged them to an area toward the back of the bar—not quite a dance floor, but a gap between tables wide enough for two women to press against each other and sway to the metal trash that was blasting from the speakers. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Lou asked, as if she didn't have her hands around Debbie's waist. 

Debbie moved her head closer so that her lips were almost touching the shell of Lou's ear. "Stealing half a million in antique South American relics."

Lou narrowed her eyes and pulled back slightly. Speaking over the music, she asked, "Are you sure you should be telling that to someone 'like me'?" 

"Maybe," Debbie agreed. "But I don't see any harm in telling someone like  _me_." 

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." 

_Bullshit_. Debbie could see her own fire reflected in Lou's eyes. She was already addicted to it. 

"The world thinks you're a good girl. So did I. But you've got secrets don't you?" 

"And you think you know my secrets?"

"One of them, at least. I think, Lou Miller, that you have played for the other team." 

A table of men next to them perked up at this and made their interest known. Lou turned to them with a face like cold water. "Sorry boys, no." Then, to Debbie, "I've never been very interested in teams." 

"But I'm not wrong. You were able to see through us because you're one of us, and the only way you could have known me is if you've run in my circles." She moved closer again, speaking under the music, "You, my dear, are a thief." 

Lou smirked. "What fun is being a security expert if you can't use it to make a little something extra?" 

God, she was  _perfect_. Debbie wanted to steal the moon, just to give it to Lou Miller. Just to get Lou Miller to stay this close to her forever. She caught herself subconsciously tightening her hold on Lou's shoulders. With no small regret, she dropped her arms and all pretenses, taking a step back. She gestured and Lou followed her to the bathroom. 

She made sure the stalls were empty and blocked the door before asking, "What would you say to 20% of half a million?" 

"I'd say $100,000 isn't a very good bribe, considering my actual salary."

Debbie frowned. "Really?" 

Lou shrugged. 

"Well, don't consider it a bribe. Consider it a retainer, for your services." 

"To work with your brother? I meant what I said out there; I don't do teams." 

"Not a team," Deb corrected. "Partner. And not my brother. Me. I could use someone like you at my side."

Lou considered and Debbie tried not to look too interested. Tried to look like she wouldn't actually shatter if Lou said no.

After several moments, Lou said. "You've known me for just over a day and you're already proposing?" 

Debbie's heart sped up. _Not a no. That's not a no._

"Babe, I only needed one minute to know we'd be amazing together."

Lou took a step closer. "Are you conning me right now, Ocean? Just to get me out of the way and rob the gallery?" 

Debbie reached out, boldly taking Lou's hand in her own. "Screw the gallery. Danny won't be able to move the masks if he doesn't lift them in the next three days. If you want to stay through your contract and stop Danny, I'll wait for you."

Lou stared at Debbie's lips, and Debbie felt drunker than alcohol. She tugged gently on Lou's hand, pulling her in. She tried not to flinch when Lou resisted. After a moment, Lou smiled. 

"You realize you just offered up your brother to the  _head of security_  for the art gallery he's attempting to rob?"

Debbie's stomach sank and her blood ran cold. Still smiling, Lou took a crucial step forward. "You really do need someone watching your back, don't you?" 

With that, Lou covered Debbie's mouth with her own and Debbie  _burned_ with the heat that had been building in her gut since they met. She may have whimpered as she guided Lou's hand back to her waist, all but melting when Lou began to cling on for dear life. 

Lou backed her against the door, sliding her thigh between Debbie's. Their kiss deepened as they moved against each other, desperate for friction yet far too  _dressed_ to get real contact where it mattered. 

Debbie couldn't bring herself to move her hand from where it weaved itself into Lou's hair, but she did allow the other to roam the rest of Lou's frame. Through the tight leather, she skated around Lou's breasts, down her back, up again between her shoulders, down again to her perfect ass. She found the place where Lou's jacket ended and her pants began and slid her hands between, reveling in the feel of Lou's skin. Smooth and so, so hot. 

At some point, their mouths broke apart so that Lou could trace Debbie's jaw with lips and teeth and tongue while Debbie tried to unfasten Lou's pants. Distracted by the sensation of Lou being somehow everywhere at once, Debbie finally got in and was able to slide her hand over the cotton of Lou's underwear. With the length of her fingers, she pressed waves against Lou, feeling her grow damp under Debbie's ministrations. 

"Christ," Lou groaned, burying her face in Debbie's shoulder. 

Debbie slowed her fingers, though still moving in absent circles through the fabric of Lou's underwear. "Not exactly the name I was hoping to hear you moaning tonight." With that, she pulled the cotton aside and slid her index finger easily into Lou.

" _Deb_." Lou held on tightly as Debbie worked her. 

It didn't take long from there, with Lou grinding against Debbie's hand and Debbie rutting against Lou's knee, before both women were losing control, drowning in the closeness of each other. 

Embarrassingly, Debbie came first, feeling herself pulse against three layers of fabric and Lou's leg. Lou didn't notice, however, losing herself on Debbie's fingers and following suit shortly after. 

Licking a bead of sweat off Lou's chest, Debbie heard her voice, beautiful and, for the first time, fragile. "If I follow you, babe, are you going to break my heart?" 

The question devastated Debbie, and she had no answer she could give. She was a professional liar, and what good were her promises? All she could do was bring her lips back to Lou's and pray that Lou understood what she meant. 

When they separated, breathless and drowning, Lou nodded against Debbie's forehead.

"Okay," she said. 

"Okay," Debbie smiled, already losing herself on all the amazing things she would be able to do with Lou by her side. 

"Now take me home. There are things I'd like to do, and you are not dressed appropriately for any of them." 

"Okay," Debbie said again, now losing herself on one specific, amazing thing she was going to do with Lou by her side. And under her. And on top of her. 

***

Of course, Rusty and Saul were wary of Lou's sudden presence on the team, but Danny always loved a twist and welcomed Lou with open arms. And, yes, a promise of 20% of their take, which Rusty and Saul were also less than happy about.

With Lou working alongside instead of against them, they pulled off one of the smoothest heists Deb had ever seen. They got away with five Incan matrimonial headmasks and an Aztec sun god. 

But, more importantly, Lou and Deb were _seamless_ together. They had a chemistry that rivaled Danny and Rusty's. The fucking probably helped that (though Debbie was never 100% sure that Danny and Rusty never did). 

Even if Debbie had been playing Lou—had planned to take the money and run after this job—their performance together would have changed her mind. It was unbelievable how intuitive their connection was, even only after a few days of knowing each other. 

If they could take this and refine it, they would be absolutely unstoppable. 

They rode out the high of a successful heist by holing themselves up in a luxury suite in Atlantic City, wearing nothing but each other, spending the money they hadn't yet received and running small cons in hotel bars. 

It was perfect. Lou was perfect. Debbie was the closest she had ever been to perfect. 

And then Danny's buyer turned out to be an undercover fed and he got sent to prison with a five-year sentence for felony fraud. 

Two hours after Rusty had delivered the verdict to Debbie over the phone, Lou found her standing on the beach, staring at some point beyond the horizon. She stood next to her, companionably silent and pressed against Debbie's shoulder. 

Debbie gave her a grateful smile before looking back into the sea.

"I never actually imagined Danny could get caught," she admitted. "I mean, I know he's not perfect. He's an asshole and a liar. He's manipulative, selfish, and immature. But he  _is_ perfect at one thing. Or, he was supposed to be. And now he's going to jail, and I don't know how to wrap my head around that."

"He'll be okay," Lou said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Danny isn't running the entire prison within a week."  

Debbie knew she was supposed to smile at that, but she couldn't bring herself to. She looked into Lou instead, trying to find some guidance in her lover's eyes. "Lou, if Danny can get caught, then so can I. I can be as careful as possible, but when I'm least expecting it, some undercover  _nobody_ will be at the right place at the right time and catch me."

"Honey, you're forgetting," she slid her hand into Debbie's and pressed her lips to Debbie's temple. "That's why you stole me." 

Debbie did smile at that. "You'll keep me safe, huh?"

"Always," Lou promised. "You come up with the brilliant plans, and I'll watch your back. So long as it's you and me, babe, nobody will take you down." 

Absolutely lost in this magnificent woman, Debbie had no choice but to believe her. And, it turned out, she was absolutely right.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is love, but all I really want is more fics with these two. Send me your favorites and keep writing! x


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